B2C Marketing 2015: Top case studies reveal 7 most effective tactics that drive revenue and engagement

SUMMARY: In 2015, B2C marketers sought to better understand how to engage customers and then used that knowledge to make it easier for consumers to buy. We have outlined the top seven tactics that marketers used to accomplish this, derived from the most-tweeted MarketingSherpa B2C case studies of 2015. Read on to learn from this year’s top B2C case studies.

by Andrea Johnson, Copywriter

This year’s top B2C case studies focused on using research and optimization to read the minds of the consumer and use this information to maximize revenues.

The companies profiled wanted to understand which marketing tactics made prospects move forward, their motivations for doing so and how to better address their needs once they became a customer. Read below for the seven tactics used to achieve this.

Tactic #1. Leverage online chat

Web Optimization: Live chat yields 39% of Total Gym Fitness' online orders

Total Gym Fitness, a home gym manufacturer, used to drive business through television ads, but noticed fewer people dialing in and more people coming to the website. The marketing team translated their phone experience to the Internet with an optimized chat feature. It enabled them to better understand customer motivation, evaluate site effectiveness and produce 39% of their online orders.

Tactic #2. Use data to understand what customers want and then deliver it

Content Marketing: Dynamic content recommendations increase time on site 70%

Bundoo, a parenting website, wanted to increase visitor engagement. It used data-like user behavior, location and social media trends to dynamically serve its website visitors relevant content. This campaign resulted in increasing time on site of 70%, increasing monthly users by 13% and reducing bounce rate by 25%.

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Tactic #3. Continually optimize marketing

Search Engine Marketing: 10-year program generates 90% of all leads

911 Restoration, a property disaster recovery company that also seeks potential franchisees, shifted its marketing investment ten years ago from the Yellow Pages and word of mouth to search engine marketing (SEM). Since then, the team has continually optimized the company's SEM and adjusted it to continuously changing digital environments.

Today, their SEM strategy accounts for 90% of 911 Restoration's leads.

Website Marketing: Total site redesign increases traffic 308%

Two years ago Knockout Pest Control, a regional company serving the New York area, had a website that "was a business card," according to Arthur Katz, the company’s president.

The team added content that visitors were eager to read, like "How to Prevent Bed Bugs." They updated it seasonally, built links organically, optimized it for mobile and integrated social media. The result: a 308% traffic increase.

B2C Marketing: Site and search optimization leads to 15% increase in average order value

Café Britt, an international brand that sells gourmet coffee, fine chocolate and specialty gifts, wanted to provide customers with a more meaningful online experience.

To do this, the site was optimized to include visuals that accompany searches, making recommendations based on customer behavior and cross-selling. This effort increased conversion by 18% and order value by 15%.

Tactic #4. Create new digital experiences to better engage existing customers

Customer-Centric Marketing: Symantec reduces churn by 3% through digital experience design

When a 1% increase in retention is the equivalent to about $15 million net revenue gain, a 3% reduction in churn is a very big deal. Symantec achieved this by launching a one-stop digital platform for auto-renewal customers.

By creating a digital lounge, the company provides content that is focused less on fear, which is common with security providers, and instead what customers want most — information that helps them to be confident and secure in the digital world.

Tactic #5. Identify how customers prefer to consume their content

Video Marketing: Retailer discovers product videos are 174% more likely to convert

Step2, a leading manufacturer of toys and preschool items, produces large-scale products that cost between $130 and $150, and sells them through retailers. The company needed to convince consumers that its product was worth the investment, but images and text weren’t cutting it. It produced videos for more than 100 products. The result: Viewers of these videos 174% more likely to buy. The article outlines the steps the company took to achieve this result.

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Tactic #6. Determine which keywords best engaged customers

Inbound Calling: Phone calls from PPC and direct mail reach 30% conversion

By using unique phone numbers on each PPC advertisement, Evolve Vacation Rental Network, a vacation property management company, was able to more accurately measure campaign effectiveness and pinpoint top-performing keywords.

This has helped the company achieve 30% conversion, as more and more people use mobile devices to search the Internet and call for more information.

Tactic #7. Help customers clarify what they want

B2C Marketing: Senior living provider drives a 12% lift in online leads with questionnaire

The senior living industry is challenged by using corporate jargon that most people don’t understand. For instance, what is the difference between assisted living and a continuing care retirement community?

As this year’s Readers’ Choice Award-winning campaign, Sunrise Senior Living addressed this challenge by putting a survey on its site that simply asked customers what they were looking for, and then directed them to the best options.

With 63% of visitors completing the survey, Sunrise has achieved a 12% increase in online leads.